Esmé Bianco’s Lawsuit Against Marilyn Manson Can Proceed
A U.S. District Court Judge has ruled that Game of Thrones actress Esmé Bianco’s lawsuit against Marilyn Manson (né Brian Warner) can proceed.
Bianco, who earlier this year accused Marilyn Manson of physical and psychological abuse, is suing for sexual assault and sex trafficking. Her suit alleges that the shock rocker “used drugs, force, and threats of force to coerce sexual acts from Ms. Bianco on multiple occasions,” “committed sexual acts” with her while she was unconscious or unable to consent, and sexually battered her, “spanking, biting, cutting, and whipping Ms. Bianco’s buttocks, breasts, and genitals… all without the consent of Plaintiff.” She also claims that Manson “violated the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act” by “bringing her from London to Los Angeles under the pretense that she would be acting in a music video that never came out and a film that was never made.”
(Manson’s former manager of 25 years, Tony Ciulla, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit when it was first filed in April; in July, Bianco’s attorneys submitted an amended version of the complaint which omits Ciulla.)
Lawyers for Manson attempted to have Bianco’s lawsuit dismissed, arguing that it violated the statute of limitations and was part of a “conspiracy… cynically and dishonestly seeking to monetize and exploit the #MeToo movement.”
But in their decision, the judge contends that “a reasonable jury could find that the effects of [Manson’s] alleged unconscionable acts, including the perceived threat to Plaintiff’s safety, immigration status, and career, persisted years after her last contact with [Manson].”
Manson has fourteen days to file a formal legal response to each of Bianco’s allegations.
In a statement regarding the decision, Bianco said:
“My hope is that this ruling empowers other survivors to pursue justice for themselves while signaling to abusers that they cannot bully victims into silence.”
Bianco is one of at least four women currently suing Manson on similar grounds.
Last month, month, a judge dismissed one of those lawsuits, filed by a woman identified only as “Jane Doe,” citing the statute of limitations and concerns regarding the victim’s claim that she had repressed memories. He gave her twenty days to address his concerns and refile her complaint, which she did a week later.
Meanwhile, the shock rocker is currently facing two misdemeanor counts of simple assault in New Hampshire. Those charges stem from an incident in which he spit on a videographer during a 2019 performance. He has plead “not guilty” to those charges. Earlier this week, Manson’s attorney, Kent Baker, argued that concert videographers such as Fountain are often subject to “incidental contact,” that Fountain “consented to exposing herself to potential contact with sweat, saliva and phlegm in close quarters,” and that “any contact related to spitting or sneezing was unintentional.”
This despite the fact that video of the incident shows Manson looking at, and the spitting directly onto, Fountain’s lens. If convicted, Manson faces up to a year in prison and a fine of $2,000 for each charge.
In August, Manson made his first public appearance since his the deluge of allegations against him began, joining Kanye West on stage at an event promoting the rapper’s new album, Donda. Manson reportedly also lent his voice to that record.
Westworld star Evan Rachel Wood — the shock rocker’s ex-fianceé, and the woman who began the deluge of accusations against him — responded to the Manson/Kanye news by performing a cover of the New Radicals’ “Get What You Give” at a Hollywood nightclub, flipping the bird when the lyrics referenced the singer. She later dedicated to the performance to “my fellow survivors who got slapped in the face this week.”
[via Deadline]
